You’ll work closely with the President, lead the team when needed, and take responsibility for key areas of student voice and governance. This role also includes responsibility for key areas within Open SU:
You will also sit on the Open SU Board of Trustees (BoT), which oversees the organisation’s governance and strategic direction.
The Student Leadership Team (SLT) is made up of two teams: Elected Officers and Elected Representatives.
As Deputy President you are part of the Officer team and chair the Representative Team meetings. The two teams have very clear remits:
The Elected Officers
- Led by the President.
- Each officer has a specific area of responsibility e.g. EDI or Student Welfare.
- Focus on projects, campaigns, and improving student life.
- Work together to support Open SU’s strategic priorities.
- Meet monthly to collaborate on priority projects and student issues.
- Submit monthly reports and updates to the student body.
- Lead development of Open SU Policy and Position Statements, seeking input from wider SLT, representatives and the student body.
- Provide content and information for social media, news articles and campaigns.
The Elected Representatives
- Led by the Deputy President.
- Each representative has a focus area e.g. Scotland/WELS.
- Focuses on Student Voice.
- Provides accountability and scrutiny to the Elected Officer team.
- Work closely with appointed Student Representatives.
- Ensures student experiences, needs, and perspectives influence decision-making.
- Meet every 4 months to understand what is going on in the University and for students.
- Comment on and contribute to development of Open SU Policy and Position Statements.
- Provide content and information for social media, news articles and campaigns.
Members of SLT meet as a whole team three times a year to collaborate, share insights, and make decisions that affect the whole organisation. Major decisions, such as changes to governing documents or Open SU position statements, must involve both teams.
Shared responsibilities of all elected Student Leaders
As a member of the Open SU Student Leadership Team (SLT), you play a vital role in representing students, building community, and supporting the mission, vision, and values of Open SU.
You’ve been elected by students to make a difference, and here’s what that involves:
- Working as a team to support Open SU’s mission, vision, and charitable objectives.
- Living our values: Welcoming, Approachable, Bold, Adaptable and Sustainable.
- Taking part in key events: onboarding sessions, SLT meetings, and Open SU’s biennial conference.
- Communicating effectively with fellow SLT members and staff, using official spaces and email regularly.
- Collaborating with other volunteers and Student Representatives who deliver activities, services, and events for students.
- Being the public face of Open SU: raise awareness, create promotional materials, deliver presentations, and host student-facing sessions.
- Sharing your impact: submit regular reports and blogs about your role.
- Engaging with students: supporting Open SU involvement in student-facing events.
- Championing equity, diversity, and inclusion in everything you do.
- Acting openly and responsibly, and be prepared to be accountable for your actions.
- All elected representatives are expected to adhere to our Values and Behaviour Policy, Volunteer Policy and sign a Volunteer Agreement on commencement of the role.
Role specific responsibilities
The Deputy President will:
- Be a champion for Student Voice.
- Be the University’s point of contact with Open SU’s SLT for matters relating to educational programmes.
- Be a public face of Open SU to the student body and will be prepared to engage with students.
- Work alongside the President to support members of the Student Leadership Team.
- Act as the Deputy Chair of the Student Leadership Team.
- Be a Trustee of Open SU.
- Have delegated authority from the President for overseeing Open SU’s student complaint process.
- Have the responsibility for ensuring that Research Students at The Open University are recognised and represented as part of our work.
- Support Open SU’s involvement in student consultation activities.
- Work closely with Faculty Representatives on student voice-related issues, ensuring that there is consistency in approach within discussion with the OU.
Key skills and attributes
The post-holder will need to possess, or be prepared to develop rapidly, the following:
- Committee leadership: Confident in chairing meetings, guiding collaborative decision-making, building strong teams, and reviewing papers thoroughly while challenging ideas constructively.
- Academic governance expertise: Strong understanding of university governance and the role of academic representation.
- Sector awareness: Interested in developments across the wider higher education sector.
- Student representation knowledge: Clear understanding of how student voices shape higher education.
- Teamwork and independence: Able to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.
- Communication skills: Comfortable speaking in public and on video, with the ability to communicate clearly and professionally.
- Commitment to growth: Willing to develop further skills and knowledge relevant to the role.
- Organisational understanding: Broad awareness of Open SU and The Open University.
Training and support will be provided by both Open SU and the University to help you.
Example of meetings attended by the Deputy President
The nature of our SLT roles is that there are always additional Open SU and OU meetings that they will need to attend. This can include regular meetings or one-off activities. Below are some of the meetings that the Deputy President is required to attend as an ex-officio (mandatory) part of their role – a full handover of current meetings will be provided by the outgoing post-holder:
- Open SU Student Leadership Team Meetings – These are formal meetings where the SLT discuss Open SU business, the issues facing students, and progress against the agreed priorities for the SLT. These take place every four months.
- Monthly SLT Officer Team Meetings – These meetings provide the Officer Team the opportunity to update on the progress on their agreed projects, seek feedback from others, and raise issues that they have encountered.
- Open SU Board of Trustees Meetings – The Board meet four times per year during the working week, with the need to attend occasional extra meetings to address urgent matters. The Board oversees the organisation’s governance and strategic direction.
- Representative Forums – These are meetings where our Representation Team can hear from our Student Representatives about any issues that students are experiencing, allowing the Representation Team to feed this back into the whole SLT. These take place every four months. The Deputy President is the chair of these meetings.
- Student Senate Reference Group – Meeting four times per year, this meeting allows you to provide your viewpoints on the topics being discussed at Senate, helping inform the opinions of the Student Members of Senate. As Deputy President, you will chair this meeting.
- Appointments Committee – The Appointments Committee conduct most of their business via a dedicated MS Teams space. However, where needed, it may meet online as required. As Deputy President, you will be the chair of the Appointments Committee. This Committee is responsible for ensuring that the Open SU Student Voice team following the agreed Principles and Processes of Appointment for all student voice volunteer appointments.
- OU Council – The Open University Council meets at least four times per year, usually at the Milton Keynes campus, but occasionally at one of the nation’s offices. It is the University’s executive governing body, exercising control on university affairs, including strategic planning; finance; estate management; and human resource management.
- Senate – Senate meets four times per year at the Milton Keynes campus and is the highest academic authority at the Open University. It has oversight for all matters related to teaching and learning.
Around these meetings, you will be required to prepare for the meetings by reading the papers ahead of the meeting and being ready and willing to contribute to the discussions.
Where a meeting is scheduled to take place in person, you will be supported to attend through the provision of reasonable expenses, however most meetings that are held in person will also have a hybrid option.
Please note – most meetings will take place during normal business hours, and you will need to attend these.
Essential role-specific information, including eligibility
This is a paid, full-time role contracted to a minimum of 37 hours per week, usually worked between 7am and 7pm with a need for flexibility to meet the requirements of the role. The role is predominantly Monday–Friday, but there is some weekend and evening work to attend meetings or events.
The post is currently remunerated at £28,031 (spinal point 18) per annum for the first year of office. An incremental raise will be due in October of the second year of the term, (currently £28,778 – spinal point 19). These salaries are based on full-time hours.
This role is remote, with the post holder working from home, with some travel required.
Travel expenses incurred on Open SU business is reimbursable by Open SU in accordance with our Expense Claims Policy.
Reimbursement of expenditure on OU business will need to be agreed with the relevant member of OU staff in advance, and claimed from the OU.
A hot desk will be provided in the Milton Keynes office and Open SU will provide appropriate equipment to enable home working. Full contractual details and a staff handbook are available on request.
To apply, you must meet the following:
Active student status
You must be a registered and active Open University student. This means you are either:
- Currently studying a module, or
- Have previously completed a module within the last two years and are registered on an OU qualification.
Eligible modules
- You must be studying Open University modules worth at least 30 credits.
- Students registered as Postgraduate Researchers or on Access modules are also eligible.
Academic progress
To support your academic success, we will not consider applications from students who have failed or not completed their three most recently started modules at the time of application. This ensures you can focus on your studies while contributing effectively to the role.
Ability to act as the public face of Open SU
Elected officers and representatives who are not charity trustees, but act as the public face of the organisation, carry significant responsibility. For this reason, all candidates are expected to meet the same eligibility standards required of charity trustees, including not being disqualified from acting as a trustee. You can read the official UK Government guidance on the automatic disqualification rules for charity trustees.
What you can expect from Open SU
- A supportive onboarding and training process.
- Guidance and support from a dedicated staff team.
- Appreciation and recognition for the work you do.
- A non-discriminatory environment that celebrates diversity.
- Reimbursement for reasonable expenses in accordance with our Expense Claims Policy.
- A culture of personal development where you will have access to training and support to allow you to further develop skills and gain relevant qualifications.
Student Leadership Team dates for your diary
- Friday, 17 July – Sunday, 19 July 2026: in-person (Handover Weekend)
- Friday, 4 September – Sunday, 6 September 2026: in-person (Onboarding Weekend)
- Saturday, 7 November 2026: online
- Friday, 5 March – Sunday, 7 March 2027: hybrid
- Saturday, 17 July 2027: online
- Friday, 12 November – Sunday, 14 November 2027: hybrid
- Saturday, 4 March 2028: online
- Friday, 14 July – Sunday, 16 July 2028: in-person (Handover Weekend)
(all 10am–4pm for the Saturday meetings)
Trustee meeting dates for your diary
- Wednesday, 22 July 2026 (newly elected trustees will be invited to shadow the last meeting of the term)
- Wednesday, 7 October 2026
- Wednesday, 27 January 2027 (online only)
- Wednesday, 24 March 2027
- Wednesday, 16 June 2027
- Wednesday, 6 October 2027
- Wednesday, 26 January 2028
- Wednesday, 29 March 2028
- Wednesday, 14 June 2028
(all hybrid: 9:30am–12:30pm)